


An Open Book

by Alexwritesfics



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Andy is an awkward sugar cube, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Night Classes, modern!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5027590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexwritesfics/pseuds/Alexwritesfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy's dreaded trips to his English classes are made better by a chance encounter at the water cooler. Now, if only Andy hadn't been so awkward, maybe he wouldn't be in such a mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Open Book

**Author's Note:**

> What am I doing I have so much to do wHAT AM I DOING

Andy was... Taken. If a little nervous.

The man in-front of him was handsome to say the least. His hair was smooth and dark with a little grey gracing it at the sides. Just a bit. Andy privately thought it made the man look more distinguished. He was shorter than Andy, though not by very much. His grey-blue gaze seemed to be permanently intense, and his skin looked rather pale in the harsh, synthetic light of the corridor, but it only served to give him a curiously luminous quality, as if he was too damn pretty to be real. He was wearing a dark-red jumper and jeans, but even in such casual attire he somehow looked... Polished.

He had a shoulderbag. Even that seemed to be more sophisticated than Andy could ever be, black leather with shining metal clips.

Andy cleared his throat as the stranger's plastic cup filled with water from the cooler. The man looked up and stepped aside slightly with a small, measured smile. His eyes widened almost-imperceptibly, but the moment quickly passed until Andy wasn't sure if he'd seen it happen at all.

'Hello,' the stranger said, and Andy felt his heart flutter. He didn't sound like Andy, who was London born-and-bred. Andy didn't know why, but he found himself liking the man's accent a great deal.

Andy cleared his throat again - it was so dry from the air conditioner and that's when Andy finally realised why the stranger had stepped aside in the first place - _Water,_ he'd wanted water - and _oh crap,_ he'd been standing there looking like an idiot for almost two minutes now without saying a word or doing a thing.

'...Hello,' Andy finally said, trying in vain not to blush as he shuffled closer to the water cooler.

There was a small silence.

'I'm Andy,' Andy blurted out before he could stop himself, finding himself to be more forward now he could concentrate his line of sight on the task at hand and not Mister Cheekbones With The Pretty Smile.

'Pleased to meet you,' the man said in that lovely, lovely voice. 'I'm Thomas.'

Andy smiled at that. _Thomas. Nice name._

...If only Andy was better at bloody small talk. He tried to find some common conversational ground as he turned back around, still finding himself knocked a little breathless by Thomas and his alluring eyes. 'So, what classes do you take?' Andy asked, hoping he didn't sound too eager. He always found himself more shy with boys than with girls.

Of course though, Thomas wasn't a boy. He was a man. And a very handsome one at that.

'...I run a class, actually,' Thomas said, eyes flickering briefly to the floor, as if such a beautiful creature could ever be shy. 'Just a first-aid one in my spare time. Nothing special.'

'Wow,' Andy said out loud, immediately mentally kicking himself afterwards. 'Um, I bet that must come in handy.'

'There's never a shortage of students,' Thomas said, fiddling with the clips on his bag for a second. 'It's a good thing to learn.'

'I've always wanted to learn,' Andy said. Well, it was _half_ true. But he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to see Thomas again. His mouth felt dry so he took another sip of his water, happy to have something to do with his hands. It had been a while since a man had caught his eye like this. He didn't want to mess things up the way he always did.

'Well, you could always sign up,' Thomas said with another small smile. 'I'd be happy to have you.'

Andy blushed again.

'So, what are you in for?' Thomas asked jokingly, as if he understood Andy's awkward pause, unaware of just how hard those words hit home. Andy hated night classes. When other people went for hobbies or genuine interests, Andy was stuck taking a class he'd hated ever since he was just a daydreaming, procrastinating schoolboy.

But there was hot guy standing in-front of him.

So, like most times when a hot guy was standing in-front of them, Andy Parker panicked.

'-French,' he said. 'I-I've been taking French.'

Thomas smiled that smile of his and Andy felt his heart squeeze. _I'm bloody done for if he keeps doing that._

'...Wow,' Thomas said, mirroring Andy's similar reaction from earlier, and goddamn if Andy didn't want Thomas to make that sound again. 'That must be so interesting... I've never had the time to pick up another language, meself. You must teach me a bit sometime.'

'Y-Yeah,' Andy said, backed into a corner and cursing himself for it. 'That'd be fun, wouldn't it?'

Thomas gave a slight nod, smile still fixed on his sharp, defined features. God, he was _stunning..._

There was a quick honking of a car horn outside the adult education centre and Thomas seemed to come out of a reverie. 'My friend's here,' he said, rolling up the sleeves of his jumper. 'I'd better go.'

Andy nodded, downing the rest of his water in a rush, before trying valiantly not to choke in-front of Thomas. He sucked in a breath and tried not to go into a fit of coughing and spluttering.

'Until next time, then,' Thomas said, walking away from Andy and towards the door. 'Talk to me about first aid next week, if you want. And you'll have to talk to me about your French class sometime...'

'-Yeah,' Andy said, voice coming out a little higher than usual. 'Th-That'd be great...!'

He watched Thomas get into the passenger seat of a car and be whisked away by a dark-haired woman.

Andy crumpled the cheap plastic cup in his hands, feeling dregs of the water trickle rather unpleasantly down his shirt cuff.

...French?

_French?!_

He'd never spoken a word of French in his life. He had no idea of how to go about learning French, and now he'd told a handsome stranger - a teacher of a class, no less - that he was taking an adult class for it. A handsome stranger who may not be that way inclined, may not be interested in someone as lanky and awkward as Andy...

Andy quickly suppressed a groan.

...How was he supposed to tell Thomas that he was re-taking his English GCSE for the fifth time?

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Andy. I feel your pain about re-takes. Thanks for reading, the second (and final) chapter should be up soon x


End file.
